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IndiGo confirmed late on Saturday that all 200 aircraft in its A320-family fleet had been fully updated, becoming the first major Indian operator to complete the mandatory enhancement. In a message posted on X, the airline said the work was “carefully coordinated” between engineering and operations teams and carried out with “minimal impact on customers’ journeys and zero cancellations”. It added that the entire fleet was now flying with the latest approved configuration, with routine monitoring continuing. Air India and Air India Express also reported rapid progress, with more than 90% of their affected aircraft upgraded by Saturday night. The push came after aviation regulators in India and Europe issued urgent directives requiring operators to install software protections designed to prevent possible data corruption in flight-control systems.
Regulators step in as airbus issues global warning
Airbus triggered the global response on Friday after telling operators that intense solar radiation could corrupt data in key flight-control computers. The company identified a “significant number” of A320 family aircraft as potentially at risk and urged immediate installation of updated software or, in some cases, hardware realignment. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an Airworthiness Directive soon after, covering a wide range of A319, A320 and A321 variants. Indian airlines were instructed to carry out the upgrades without delay, with a deadline set for early Sunday morning.Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury issued an apology to airlines and passengers affected by delays, saying, “I want to sincerely apologise to our airline customers and passengers who are impacted now. But we consider that nothing is more important than safety when people fly on one of our Airbus aircraft… Our teams are working around the clock to support our operators and ensure these updates are deployed as swiftly as possible.”
Airlines push through updates as delays ripple across airports
According to DGCA data, 338 Indian A320-family aircraft required the update, with modifications completed on more than 270 by Saturday evening. IndiGo upgraded 184 of its 200 affected aircraft earlier in the day, before confirming full completion later at night. Air India reported successful resets on over 90% of its operating A320 fleet, while Air India Express said 22 of its 25 impacted aircraft had been updated.The upgrades—conducted at bases in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata—caused delays of 60–90 minutes at several airports. Air India Express cancelled four flights, though IndiGo and Air India avoided cancellations.Aviation experts said the issue demanded swift action. Former pilot Ehsan Khalid explained that the affected Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC) is central to flight control: “The software problem with one of the ELACs is significant,” he said, citing a JetBlue incident where an A320 experienced an uncommanded pitch-down, injuring passengers.With most Indian aircraft now updated and global airlines racing to do the same, regulators and Airbus say they expect normal operations to resume rapidly—though full worldwide compliance may take longer, given the nearly 6,000 aircraft requiring upgrades. Go to Source
